The Art of Imperfect

Isn't this just wonderful?

It's stories like this that always seem to shake up my sometimes-too-rigid way of approaching art. And when I say art, I mean music... I was not blessed with the amazing visual creativity that this man possesses. As much as I would love to etch one of Degas' ballerina pieces into the peel of a banana, I just have to accept it will probably never happen. Not unless someone swaps brains with me. And hands.

               And I'm okay with that.

Right now, I'm in the middle of a gigantic creativity block. After not writing songs for over a year (for fear that I would love them too much and just have to add them to the "Savor" album I released recently), I've found it incredibly difficult to get back into the songwriting swing of things. I mean, I literally had to lock myself in a closet the other day and stay there for five hours (with the occasional food or bathroom break) until I finally came up with just the mere skeleton of a song.

Forgetting my excuse of not wanting to write even more songs for the album, another reason for this little lull could have something to do with this lifelong struggle I've had with always trying to make my music "perfect". I mean, I have always written songs for me and for the joy of it, but it's hard to forget that others are going to listen to the finished product and probably have some opinions about it. Did you see the movie Black Swan? Yeah. I did. And it slapped me in the face with the message that attempting to be "perfect" doesn't always end in your favor. I can get too wrapped up sometimes in trying to formulate a song to its absolute perfection. Who am I kidding? What does perfection even mean? There's always going to be at least one person that doesn't like what you do. Does that mean it's imperfect?

But, watching that little video up there makes me remember (just as Black Swan did) that it doesn't matter. Don't matter. Nope. No way. No how. "Perfection" is just a ridiculous word. And besides, how cool is the art of imperfection? Way cool. It's like the girl we all envied in high school that seemed to always look so incredibly fashionable yet claimed she literally just "rolled out of bed and put something on". Cool.

Lastly, to wrap up this ridiculous creativity/art/perfection/imperfection rant I'm on, let's talk about you. And me. And he. And she. And everyone everywhere. I know this is going to sound "overdone" and "cheesy", but each and every one of us was blessed with some form of art. It's there. Promiseee. It just might be hard to recognize.

        For instance, my brother has this amazing ability to play practically any instrument you throw at him. He can hear a song one time and immediately turn around and knock it out.
        I have friends who can draw masterpieces (just like Mr. Hansen up there!). I can describe to you what a Bengal tiger looks like, but I can almost guarantee I won't be able to highlight the details (such as the exact shape of the nose or the proper curve of the whiskers) like they can. 
        There are those that can communicate effortlessly. (And in multiple languages, too).
        Others (like my mother) always seem to give the best advice, no matter what the advice is for. 
        Something I was definitely not blessed with is athleticism (unless you count the one time I beat out a bunch of other extremely young kids in my tennis class for a Krispy Kreme gift card), but some excel in sports (there's a kid from my high school who was just signed with a pro baseball team.. how cool is that??). 
        I have encountered people in my life that are far funnier than I could ever hope to be. They have an effortless wit that can put an entire room in stitches (good stitches). Never thought of this as an art? Might be one of the best ones, actually.
        I mean, even my dog, Yogi, possesses an art. He can kick a ball with his head better than I can with my foot. 

There you have it. Take it or leave it. Love it or hate it. I just woke up from a weird nap, so I could read all of this later and question my sanity. But for now, I'll just wish you all happy evening.


<3 Nat